Lately I've been working on a few audio projects out in the garage. When
testing some devices I will often have one speaker hooked up to an amp to
monitor the output. I'm starting to appreciate how good mono can sound. I've
noticed in the past when multitracking that I always seem to like the sound
coming from a single omni in the room more than the sum of all the spot mics.
When listening to a recording in mono I sometimes feel like I can actually tell
more about what is going on than when it is in stereo. What might sound big and
spacious in stereo can really sound like garbage in mono. I've been hearing
about this and reading about this for years, I know why this is the case... but
I never really put it into practice much. I felt that most of the listeners of
my music would be using a stereo system and I didn't have to worry too much
about mono compatibility. I realize now that auditioning in mono is a great
tool even if no one will ever listen to the recording in mono. I feel that it
is also refining my perception of what is going on below 300 Hz and above 8 kHz
when listening to a stereo recording.

Peter